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DRILLING 

Methods 




FAULTS 


EROSION 


SYNCUNES 


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SHOWING 

APPROXIMATE LOCATIONS ANDDR/LL/NG WELLS .ALSO NAMES 
OF COMPANIES DRILLING. 


r PAHNAHOLt\ 


KRATH 


THE LOCATIONS AND NAMES OF WILDCAT WELLS CONTAINED HEREON WERE OBTAINED FROM SOURCES WE CONSIDER 
RELIABLE: / E CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF THE VARIOUS COUNT! ES. COUNTY RECORDERS. DRILLING REPORTS ETC 
BUT OWING TO THE SMALL SCALE OF THE COUNTIES WE ARE UNABLE TO GUARANTEE THE EXACT LOCATION OF THESE WELLS 

— LEGEND - 

4 DRILLING WILDCATS OR LOCATIONS 
FRODO&hg Oil FIELDS 
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APPROXIMATE LOCATIONS OF DRILLING WELLS AND LOCATIONS IN TEXAS 

N. B: COMPARE NUMBER BY DERRICK WITH CORRESPONDING NUMBER BELOW FOR NAME OF COMPANY 






























































































































































































OIL AND HOW 
TO FIND IT 


Converse’s Simplified 
Petroleum Geology 
and Drilling 







PRICE $3.00 




If you 

©C1A602140 


have the oil fever call yours 

THOS. P. CONVERSE 

Wellington, Texas 


truly 


OCT 30 1320 





1 


rl 


,c% 


Submit Your Drilling 
Propositions to the 


Texas 

Drilling 

Company 

of 

Wellington, Texas 









OIL AND HOW TO FIND IT 

Converse’s SIMPLIFIED PETROLEUM GEOLOGY and DRILLING 


Science has placed geology foremost in the search for oil as 
well as for other minerals, but to the layman its secrets are shrouded 
in mystery. Geology is that branch of science that treats of the 
terrestial history of the earth, of its living forms from the beginning 
of life and before, to the present. 

It unfolds the records of time, time so long that its calcula¬ 
tion is beyond reckoning in years. Geological time is counted by 
Era, Epoch; time almost beyond human comprehension. 

It fathoms the history of the rocks in deciphering the remains 
of matter, organic and inorganic. Naturally it takes years of hard 
study, patience and observation to master it and understand its 
teachings. Few reach the top rung of that great ladder leading to 
the sealed archives of the earth, bringing to the light of man’s in¬ 
telligence the wonders of creation as laid down in the beginning, by 
the infinite, for man’s use and benefit. 

Petroleum Geology is only a small part of geology, and treats 
only of that branch of the science pertaining to oil and its allies. 
It, like geology, is complex and difficult to understand, yet simple 
when understood. It is very essential to have a fair knowledge of 
Petroleum Geology to successfully locate oil fields and to know 
the meaning of the various strata as they are encountered in drilling 
wells for oil. # Every one interested in any branch of the petroleum 
industry should have some knowledge of petroleum geology. The 
demand for such knowledge is so great that it has promted the 
author to get out something simple, yet concise, that has a direct 
bearing on the subject, alleviating all technicalities; placing the facts 
before the layman in a comprehensive manner and as the author 
has found them in his twenty odd years in the development end of 
the petroleum industry. 

I know of no publication out at the present time that fully 
comes up to the requirements of the oil man, layman and specula¬ 
tor or promotor, in simple form, for the many complex problems, 
that is explicit to the small investor and satisfies the capitalist. 

The day of the big company has passed. The independent 

— 4 — 


operator has the field and to him and the multitudes who are in¬ 
vesting their savings with him, in this game of fabulous wealth, 
this book is dedicated. May it be a guide to you, that through its 
suggestions you may profit the good from the bad, are the sincere 
wishes of its author. 

Thos. P. Converse. 

Wellington, Texas. 


(Copyright applied for, 1920 
Thos. P. Converse, Wellington, Texas) 


— 5 — 




Sketch Ao. 3 This sketch is known as a general map and in this in- 
instance is used to illustrate oil lines or the trend of oil. It is intend¬ 
ed to convey the idea that the mother oil pool is in Old Mexico and 
that the oil now found in the United States migrated through strata 
along certain channels to where it is now developed. 









The Origin of Petroleum 

There are several theories advanced as to the origin of petro¬ 
leum, all of them have their adherrents, none of which are conclu¬ 
sive. One thing is reasonably certain, oil is derived form mater that 
once lived, either organic or inorganic, or a combination of the two, 
or through a dynamic chemical change or physical action, carried 
on deep in the bowels of the earth, and here there is a limit. It 
could not be at very great depths, even when first made or formed, 
nor could it descend past a certain depth as pretroleum, because in¬ 
ternal heat would act upon it, destroying the lighter hydro-carbons 
in it and consolidating it to a solid residium. It has never been 
found as such in the deeper borings. It is found however, in a solid 
state at outcroppings and in deposits as asphalt, etc. The pitch 
lake. Island of Triniad is an example. It is also found along cer¬ 
tain sea-coasts, here called sea-wax, much of it is found floating 
in the Gulf of Mexico and on the beach sands of the Texas coast. 
Taking the accepted basis for calculation, for every sixty feet of 
depth, in the earth, there are one degree of heat added. In distil¬ 
ling, two hundred to three hudred degrees centigrade, applied to 
the still, makes lubricating oil; three hundred to four hundred de¬ 
grees makes vasoline, and above four hundred degrees makes coke. 
Now then how far in the earth would you have to go in depth be¬ 
fore you found coke? And this could not be since the porosity of 
the enclosing rocks in this case, would act as a filter and not as 
the sealed walls of a still, migration would result. 

Concerning the occurance of petroleum in nature, going into 
it technically, we must have some tangible, basic starting point that 
most of us can understand without employing a professor to tell us 
about it and for our purpose we will start out in the Gulf of Mex¬ 
ico, where we find the deepest water adjacent to the highest land. 

Basing all petroleum deposits on deepest water and highest 
land, we find the deepest water to be the Sigsbee Deep, latitude 
22 to 24 north, longitude, 92 to 94 west, with a brown mud bot- 


— 7 — 


tom, covered with broken shell of many specie and carrying shell 
all along the north coast of Yucatan. 

From the deepest part of the deep. Sisal on the north coast 
of Yucatan, bears southeast one quarter east, distant one hundred 
eighty miles, while the northern most of the banks bear about the 
same course, with only about one hundred feet of water and shal¬ 
lower at less than eighty miles from the Deep, whereas the water 
at the Deep is twelve thousand four hundred eighty feet deep. 

The ocean’s bed here shows shell of a great variety and color, 
evidencing at one time of the earth’s history a luxuriant growth of 
marine life. Mount Pico De Oirizabo, seventeen thousand eight 
hundred ninety five feet in elevation, nearly due west of Vera 
Cruz, Mexico, bears from Sigsbee Deep, southwest one quarter 
south, distant four hundred miles, an extreme in elevation of thirty 
thousand three hundred seventy five feet or nearly six miles. 

Caney Creek on the Texas coast, bears from the Sigsbee Deep 
north fifteen west, distant four hudred ninety miles, thus showing 
a longer and a more gradual dip of the formation on the Texas 
costal plains and oil belt to be gently declining to the southward. 

To the westward of the Deep it will be noted that the higher 
mountains seperate the two oceans, the raise of which is caused in 
part by tremendous interanl pressure, primarily of volcanic origin. 
It is a well known and established fact that oil and gas does not 
exist upon the higher elevations of the this mountain range, connect- 
in the two continents and separating the two oceans. 

It is however, a fact that oil bearing strata does lie adjacent 
to and at the base and skirts of these mountains and that it is cov¬ 
ered with debris deposited by river alluvium, mountain wash and 
dilluvium and volcanic matter ejected from plutonic regions. 

Bending and folding strata covered by water and again 
emerged several times, therefore the general oil lines of this conti¬ 
nent will be found to correspond to the right angle of deepest 
water and parallel to the highest land. Following these oil lines to 
a definite termination they lead us to the northern oil fields, in 
direct transit of the Texas-Oklahoma oil fields. It is a proven 
fact that the purer limes are formed in the deeper waters and the 
coarser in the shallow waters. It is in the laminations of the limes 

— 8 — 


that we find the better oil pools, generally in the sand rock or in 
the sand that has not formed into rock. To this we may add that 
chlorine gas, an element found in association with salt domes has 
considerable to do with the formation of petroluem and it is along 
the lines of flexure and fault that these saline structures occur. 
Particular attention may be called to the fact that as a rule, fault 
lines of greater prominence will be noted along general courses of 
the larger streams. Anticlines and other folds are of more recent 
occurance and generally caused by gas pressure. It will be 
noted in particular, that the majority of the known pools are closely 
associated with these major folds and faults. 

There apperas in Texas a very large and extensive anticline, 
running in a northeasterly direction, paralelling generally the Colo¬ 
rado river. It is upon this anticline that the larger pools will be 
located as development progresses. It will be noted that this 
anticline is intercepted and crosses the Colorado river in Wharton 
county, paralleling the costal bench and extending on indirectly to 
the northern pools. The foregoing is metioned simply to establish 
the fact that the costal formation has a gradual southerly dip and 
the strata are deposited very evenly over a vast territory in that 
direction. The ocean chart for the Gulf of Mexico shows no shoals 
oi chasms but does show a gradual increasing depth of water sea¬ 
ward. The gravity of ocean water and its density are practically 
the same, so far as permanent action and weigth on the ocena’s 
bed are concerned, depending on depth only. The water tonage 
is approximately the same on the floor of the ocean every where 
at the same depth, hence internal disturbance, except ceismic, 
probably does not occur in the greater depths of the ocean, but 
does occur on the land, where there is a variety of gravity and ton¬ 
nage beyond classification, and it is here where gasses escape from 
buried beds of marine flora and fauna, following along up the dip 
between strata until it finds a weakness and there escapes to the next 
stratum above and finally to the surface. There are many beds of 
buried marine life covering the entire continental basin. These 
beds were at one time reefs and benchs and shore lines, and it is 
probably from these that we obtain our supplies of oil and gas. 
Science has not so far disputed this hypothesis. 

— 9 — 



m 

r~ 














































































































































It is up to man to locate in the earth’s formations marine life 
of past ages sufficiently bountiful to have produced vast quantities 
of petroluem, and then to find a porus formation acceptable to 
accumulation, that has been sealed over with impervious coverings 
sufficiently to prevent the escape of petroleum that has migrated 
into the resovoir rocks from the primary beds in which it was 
formed, before he can attempt to locate a bore hole. This is ac¬ 
complished by and through the proper knowledge of the anticlinal 
system of oil field location, which is the only scientific method of 
locating oil fields. 

The author thinks that petroleum is derived from the fatty 
remains of sea and land life, principally animal. This theory 
seems to be generally accepted. Some believe in the gas theory, 
holding that at the beginning all was gaseous, so where did the 
solids come from? Condensation contraction and expansion? Its 
chemical composition is carbon and hydrogen together with oxygen 
and usually varying amounts of nitrogen and sulphur. For a recent 
discussion on this subject see U. S. G. S. bulletin 616, also 
Clark’s Data of Geo-Chemistry, also J. D. Henry’s History and 
Romance of the petroleum industry, 1914; also many instructive 
bulletins and other reference matter are usually found in most public 
libraries. 

The origin of petroleum in the making does not concern us. 

There are some things in scientific research that in all proba¬ 
bility are not intended for man to know and he very likely never 
will. 

Accumulation .—Deposition as it is termed. As oil is made 
in nature’s laboratory, it must have some place to go. Naturally 
it accumulates in the softer, more porus and fissured rock and 
water channeled limestones. Oil is migratory and moves in 
the line of least resistance, whether it be straight across or 
miles around; its tendency is always upwards. Gas always ac¬ 
companies oil, sometimes under very great pressure, then again its 
pressure is nil to all practical purposes. The general order of 
deposition is gas in the higher elevations, oil next, then salt 
water. Arches of considerable extent are formed in the earth, 
and these arches are termed anticlines; they are caused by the accu- 


— 11 — 


mulation of the gases derived from the oil and through folding 
from other causes, such as quakes, crust adjustments, etc. 

When we say anticline, it means a structural condition of the 
earth, having a definite starting place, an axis, and defined borders 
and not a mere hill or bulge on the surface, such as an ordinary 
hill. It is a well established fact that gas is derived directly from 
petroleum deposits and that the present petroleum depositions can 
not be far distant from the out crop of petroleum gas, as indicated 
by borings adjacent to gas vents and outcroppings exhibiting oil. It 
will be noted in particular that the majority of the known pools are 
closely associated with these anticlines and faults and also situated 
near water courses. 

There appears numerous places of disturbance where gas has 
uplifted the formation and caused hills and sinks; in these localities 
gas is readily found, in others, salt plugs are uplifted. In such 
:ases mounds are found far from any hill; Damon Mound, Rattle 
Snake Mound, Kaiser s Mound, Big Hill, High Island and many 
Dthers are fair examples of this type of topography. If a section 
of an anticline could be viewed at random depths below the surface 
it would show consecutive layers of strata quite parallel one to the 
other, but bending in opposite directions from an axis. Between 
its base and axis and near a noticible change in its dip is the most 
favorable place for the accumulation of oil. Geological surfaces 
may be: acline, homocline, anticline and syncline. Acline: a flat 
surface with no inclination. Homodine: A surface with inclination 
in one general direction. Antidine: A surface with inclination 
out from an axis in opposite directions. Syncline: A surface with 
inclination in towards an axis. What other explanations could be 
more simple? 

Pressure .—Constant pressure applied in one place will 
raise the upper strata, compacting the clays and lighter detritus, 
causing them to bend until the pressure becomes so great that the 
overlying rocks are cracked and oil and gas seeps out and event¬ 
ually escapes to the surface; or, if the overlying strata are suffi¬ 
ciently pliable to bend and not crack, and consists of imper¬ 
vious clays, it is more than probable that the oil is there in paying 


- 12 - 


quantities and under very great pressure. The anticlinal pressure 
must be counterbalanced by what is known as rock pressure, or 
other forces working in opposition to anticlinal pressure, if the 
anticline is to amount to much as an oil field. Necesary Condi¬ 
tions —there are three separate and distinct conditions that are nec¬ 
essary to make an oil pool. The first condition is the reservoir 
itself. It must be open or porous, whatever its composition. It 
must have some sort of cover to hold its contents. It must have some 
sort of geologic structure, by which the oil and gas is separated. 
This applies to all oil fields, but more partcularly to the fields of 
the anticlinal class. 

Domes: In other cases oil and gas is found around domes 
and dome like structures. This class of structure generally con¬ 
sists of salt; sometimes salt, sulphur and gypsum; occasionally of 
sulphur. These domes or salt plugs as they are sometimes called, 
are intrusions and come up from deep down in the earth, past 
reach of any present drilling methods, breaking through the upper 
strata, the sedimentaries in the coast country of Texas and Louis¬ 
iana, edging them up, making cracks and crevices and pockets 
adiacent to such intrusions, which allows the passage through them 
before the deterius has had time to fall in and the general law of 
equilibrium adjust the mass, sealing the cracks made by the intru¬ 
sive plug and confining the oil and gas therein. These domes are 
sometimes themselves buried beneath the surface of the earth, 
in which case they are only located by careful geologic engineering. 
There are also domes that come to the surface and appear as 
hills, sometimes round, sometimes enlongated, as Damon Mound, 
Brazoria, County, Texas. It is stated by many old settlers of the 
West Columbia community and verified through others, that gas 
has been heard blowing several miles away and that the disturbance 
shook windows and rattled dishes and other loose articles. The 
occurance taking place during very wet weather. While this state¬ 
ment seems rather mythical, it is nevertheless true; the writer in 
company with two others heard the gas blowing, the blast lasting 
several minutes and at a distance of over two miles. This mound 
is very pronounced, being visible for more than twenty miles. 


— 13 — 



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Humble, Texas, is an example of the underground type, both 
are known as salt domes, salt, sulphur and gypsum is encountered 
in both of them. Damon Mound contains vast quantities of sul¬ 
phur in commercial deposits. Attention is called to another in¬ 
stance of a gas blow out which occured several years ago in a 
railway cut, on the west side of the Neches River and about a mile 
from the river, here there is a dome shaped structure commonly 
known as Patomic Hill. As related to me one day, while travel¬ 
ing on a train to Lufkin, Captain Moore, the conductor and an old 
friend of long standing, sat down beside me, just as we were 
leaving the siding at Patomac. His narative is as follows, as 
near as I can remember: He says, “Converse, I’ll show you the 
biggest gas blowout you ever saw, in a few minutes. You remem¬ 
ber old man-, well he was the engineer on the 

train that night, with me as conductor. We left Lufkin about nine- 
thirty. Come out on the hind end, we are nearing the blowout now, 
stand right here and look quick, you see that pine tree up there, 
near that pole on the edge of the cut, well that’s the place. You 
see how the cut looks; the track for four rail lengths was lifted 
straight off the raodbed and landed rails down on the letf bank 
of the cut. The track was thrown out of alignment ten feet or 
more. They called it a landslide those days becauuse they didn’t 
know anything about gas blowouts then. You see it was a blow¬ 
out, pure and simple; it raised the track from the roadbed in the 
bottom of the cut. The bank didn’t cave in or slide off, it wasn’t 
a land slide. We stopped here at Revera for water, (a water 
tank on the east bank of the river). Old Bill was opening her up 

to make the hill in good shape. He had engine number-that 

night, one of the new big ones, and one of the first to be equipped 
with the new electric headlight. The track was none too good in 
them days and it had been raining all the week, you know what an 
east Texas rain is as well as I do. Bill got her rolling out about 
twenty miles an hour, when all of a sudden he gave her the emer¬ 
gency, the engine stopped at the point of curve. I walked up to 
the headend to see what was wrong. Bill was out ahead of his en¬ 
gine with his old time coal oil torch, beating it up the track. What’s 


15 — 




the matter. Bill? Track’s gone. As I looked ahead, I saw by the 
ray of that new head light a part of the track upside down, laying 
up aginst the south bank of the big cut, just as though it had been 
put there by the section gang. In the road bed was a great hole, 
half filled in. We called it a land slide and backed up to Lufkin 
to spend the remainder of the night.” Captain Moore is still run¬ 
ning on the same road now as he was then, and he would be pleased 
to give you his narrative. It is around these domes that the most 
productive oil fields are located, not on their crests as in the case 
of anticlines, but around the sides and edges of them. The cause 
of these intrusions is not fully known. However, one theory is 
that they are caused by igneous matter driven through a weak¬ 
ened crust, possibly along a fault, internal heat and gasses probably 
being the motive power. Another theory is that ascending waters, 
accompanied by hot steam vapors and gasses pushed them up and 
as they gradually cooled, water deposited its burden of solid 
matter. However, whatever their cause, be what it may, they are 
there and a very good indication not to be ignored in the search for 
oil. Anticlines and domes must not be confounded with the ordi¬ 
nary hill and wave-like folds common to many localities, they bear 
no relationship to them and are only superfacial, having nothing at 
all to do with anticlines or domes or indicating the presence of oil 
near or around them. Domes are characteristic of the costal belt. 

Faults —Next in line are faults, which are nothing more them 
deep cracks in the earth. They are of several classes. The com¬ 
mon fault, such as Red River, Burkburnett section, is a good ex¬ 
ample, ordinarily not noticable. In this case the Texas side of the 
Red River is the lower side or under thrust, and is the side that 
settled, entirely cutting off the broken strata by plastering the walls 
at the time of the fracture, with clay and other impervious matter, 
then settling into a compact mass. The contents could not escape 
on the south but could and did escape on the north side of the river, 
where no oil will probably be found in paying quantities, adjacent 
to the fault in the Burkburnett Northwest Extension. 

The Balcones fault, the most pronounced structural feature in 
Texas is a very good example of a fault and a very interesting one. 


16 — 


It can be seen very plainly for many miles as one travels over the 
country from Austin to V/aco, Texas. This fault traverses the 
whole state of Texas and is a marked dividing line from the Rio 
Grande River, near Del Rio to north of Austin. It divides the 
Edwards Plateau on the North from the Gulf Costal Plains on the 
south. It runs in an easterly direction from Del Rio to San 
Antonio. Between San Antonio and Austin it swings in a 
northerly direction, thence about north by east to the Red River 
fault which it intercepts at right angles near Denison. The inter¬ 
esting feature of this fault are the variety of fossils it contains, it is 
practically a wall of limestone. The great abundance of fossils 
are seen without hunting for them. In this great fault, the north 
side, or Edwards Plateau, was elevated; the south side, fe, from 
near Austin to Del Rio, or the Gulf Costal Plains side is the lower. 

Other faults are simply cracks, where both sides retain the 
same level, and the intervening space is filled with debris. The 
San Francisco earthquake caused many faults. Very often oil is 
found in such places that has escaped from some sand, perhaps near 
by that may be productive and again the oil may have long since 
gone out, leaving only a residum or a very much impoverished 
deposit. Then again there are faults with slips where two fault 
planes act in opposition, causing a bending of the adjacent strata. 
Fautls have no uniformity or regularity and may be mere cracks 
a few feet deep or even miles deep and of all sizes and shapes. 
Faults are made in the granduer movements of the earth’s crust. 
All fault lines have their significance. 

Shorei Lines —Shore lines, benches, etc., were honzon 
where land and sea met, and are distinguished by the composition 
of the beds as shown on the surface and at shallow depths; such as 
coarse gravel evenly distributed for long distances, with, sometimes 
a break, finer gravel farther out seaward and parallel to the first 
coarse gravel, still farther out sands of various grades, tapering off 
to clays, then shales and finally in the abysmal depths of the sea, 
limestone. If a quiet sea, fine grained; if the sea was rough and 
expansive the limestone was coarser grained. This situation is 
best studied along the shores of the present seas, lake and gulfs. 


— 17 — 


Alluvial and glacial deposits and conglomerates are different and 
usually show signs of scratching if glacial, as though dragged over 
a rough surface. River gravel will have a rounded appearance, 
caused by constant rolling in one direction. Beach gravel will be 
oblong and rather flattened on one or both sides, showing that it has 
been moved in one direction, then back again as the waves of the 
ocean enroach upon the land and then recede, bringing up and 
carrying back over the same path any movable matter present. This 
unceasing action of the waves also sorts it into different grades as 
previously explained. 

Winds —Winds acted in past ages very muuch as at present, 
perhaps more severly. The prevailing direction was then as now. 
We have proofs of this by the regularity and general direction of 
the waves of the present land. Note that the general long rolling 
hills bordering coast countries are at right angles to the prevailing 
winds and parallel generally to the present shore lines. Conditions 
to the coutrary are explained by the presence of uplifts and moun¬ 
tain ranges. 

Erosion .—Erosion is an element to be considered very care¬ 
fully in prospecting for oil, as it has no bearing whatever on under¬ 
ground conditions. Erosion is the wearing away of the surface by 
the elements, wind, water, rain, heat, contraction and expansion, 
etc. Eroded countries contain vast quantities of peroxide of iron, 
one of the most destructive elements in nature. Marbles and other 
ornamental and building stones are made unfit for use by its pre¬ 
sence. Medicine Mounds in Hardeman county, Texas, is a good 
illustration of erosion. These mounds are located in the center of 
a very large valley, some ten or fifteen miles in width, a hundred 
or more in length, standing as island in a open sea. The land on 
all sides has eroded away, leaving the mounds isolated. There 
is also an anticline crossing this valley in a northeasterly direction, 
north of the mounds. This anticline is not visible on the surface, 
yet it is very extensive and will probably prove as productive as it 
is extensive when properly prospected. There is one well in the 
vicinity, but none on the anticline at the present time (March 
1920). While on the subject we may dwell on some more very 
promising localities. Not far from Eagle Lake, in Colorado 

— 18 — 


county and a few miles west of the little town of Garwood, there 
is one of the largest anticlines in the whole state of Texas. This 
anticline comes up through Matagorda and Wharton counties, fol¬ 
lowing that great fault line, the Colorado river, and is crossed by 
another pronounced fold, which when thoroughly prospected will 
be, in my opinion, larger in extent and more productive than any 
oil field yet discovered in Texas. There is another very promising 
locality in Liberty county, some mile or more, on the west bank of 
the Trinity river and between the S. P. railroad and the Gulf 
Coast line at a place called Kenifleck. This structure is a dome 
and is one of the most promising of the dome class of structures in 
the Costal Belt. There are several other very promising places 
that have not yet been prospected by the drill. 

Returning to the subject, we will discuss synclines, many of 
which are scattered over North Texas, to the sorrow of a few 
venturesome wildcatters. Synclines are valleys beneath the surface, 
sometimes visible on the surface, they may be termed inverted 
anticlines. The synclines carry salt water or are comparitively 
dry. They are generally dry so far as oil is concerned. It is 
seldom that oil is found in a syncline, and if it is so found there 
must be two adjacent anticlines to dam it back, and an impervious 
cover to hold it in. At that it would trend towards the anticlines. 
Oil that is found in synclines is secondary, and when exhausted, 
salt water will take its place and little or no oil will be recovered. 
However, other commercial substances will be found in them, 
quite often in paying quantities, such as certain salts, potash, etc., 
that may be worked profitably. 

Dips —A dip of a stratum is the direction it takes from the 
horizontal, down the slope of the stratum. In measuring dips, 
care must be exercised in knowing that the rock to be measured for 
dip is in place, that it has not been moved from its original position 
as by landslides, roots of trees, upheaval or other forces. Dip 
should be calculated in degrees, for instance an outcrop has a dip 
of one degree, at one hundred feet from the outcrop, the stratum 
would be one foot and seventy-five one hundredths, from the hor¬ 
izontal. Of course the plane of the dip must continue the same. 
A dip of two degrees one hundred feet would be three and fifty 

—19— 



one hundredths deep, and so on. Tables are published giving dip 
in degrees, minutes and seconds, but it is no great task to figure 
any dip with a carpenter’s square or a protractor. Dips give an 
approximation as to how deep drilling may be carried to encounter 
a certain horizon, suspected of being oil bearing. Dips are very 
important factors in locatiing oil fileds and oil bearing formations. 
Dips may be used as a basis of calculation to ascertain the depth 
of a stratum at a stated distance from the outcrop of that particular 
stratum. Dips may be calcuated in hand dug wells, tunnels, 
bluffs, cuts, etc., by direct vertical measurement and in deep borings 
by correlation and measurement. It is very necessary to under¬ 
stand dips thoroughly and their connection with the calculation of 
the strata encountered in borings. 

Locating a Pool —The first requisite in locating an oil field 
is to find some signs of oil or gas, either as a deposit of parafine, 
asphalt, oil seeps, with or without gas. Such a place would very 
likely be around fault zones, outcrops, distorted rocks, creeks, dug 
wells, or if gas was noticed in dry creek beds with freshet water or 

in ponds that had been recently filled by rain or flood. Stagnant 

* 

ponds may contain gas also; however this gas may be marsh gas, 
caused by decayed vegetation, which would have no bearing on 
the presence of petroleum. 

Once we have located the place, we must seek the source of 
what we have found and find out as near as we can why it is 
there, how it got there and where it came from. We have then 
something to work from, a starting point, a key to the situation. 

The pool may be directly underneath, as at Burkburnett, or 
it may be miles away. This is a matter entirely up to the petroleum 
engineer. Conditions become entirely too complicated for the 
novice to attempt to locate the direction from whence and where 
came the oil. However, once the seepage is located, it either 
came up through a nearby fault or along the roof of some stratum, 
to be located by outcrop or otherwise. If through a fault, gener¬ 
ally some indication of the presence of a fault will be manifest 
somewhere on the surface nearby, either by a stream, wet or dry, 
the unevenness of the surface, a change of the soil, a cliff or a chain 
of hills, or an incline terminating in a sink or valley, or there may 

— 20 — 


be nothing at all unusual, and if a valley it may have long since 
been covered by alluvial deposit or eaolean deposits, as in a 
sandy and windy country; or the change in the original bed of a 
stream. 

Geologic Time —Geologic time periods are divisions of the 
earth’s history and are; Archaean time. Paleozoic time, Mesozoic 
time, Cenozoic time. Each of the time epoch is divided into 
periods and in turn the periods are divided into systems and the 
systems into formations etc. 

Archaean time, being the oldest, or begining of rock forma¬ 
tion, the granites, gniesses and old acid rocks belong to this era. 

The Paleozoic time has several divisions, and is divided as the 
Cambrian era, constituting the Lower, Middle and Upper Cam¬ 
brian; The Lower Silurain era, constitutes the Canadian and 
Trenton periods ; the Upper Silurian era, constitutes the Niagara, 
.Onondaga, Lower Helderberg; The Devonian era constitutes 
the Oriskany, Corniferous, Middle and Upper Devonian; Carbon¬ 
ic era, Subcarboniferous, Carbonirefous and Permain periods. 

Mesozic Time—Mesozoic time constitutes the Triassic, Jur¬ 
assic and Cretaceous periods. 

Cenozoic Time—Cenozoic time constitutes the Territary and 
Quaternary eras. All having their many subdivisions, with many 
of the formations locally named. 

Archaean time was at the beginning without life. Paleozoic 
time had the very ancient life. Meozoic time had medevial life. 
Cenozoic time had the more modern life. In Paleozoic time 
there lived the life of the sea in both fauna and flora. Cenozoic 
time has brought forth the life of mammals and paved the way for 
man. 

It was the dawn of existing races, the creation of another 
world in that great realm of organism. The light of intellectual 
man loomed out of the darkness, to behold in amazement the won¬ 
ders about him. The completion of the present creation, the work 
of one and the same contriving intelligence. 

Leasing —Leasing lands is a matter that should require more 
attention than is ordinarily given that subject. Leasing the proper 


— 21 — 


kind of land for oil development depends, the result of finding oil 
in paying quantities; therefore, the success or failure of the com¬ 
pany or individual undertaking its development. It is folly to run 
madly around hunting down the owner of a piece of land, or if the 
land is leased, the owner of the lease, simply because oil has been 
struck somewhere near it, pay an outrageous price for it and then 
attempt to unload or develop it. This kind of leasing is what has 
heretofore made investors skeptical about buying stock in an organ¬ 
ized company, directly because of the result of so many dry holes 
and the consequent failure of the small company so operating, 
therefore the direct loss to the investor. Before leasing is attempted 
especially in wildcat territory, the one and main object is to secure 
ample territory and properly blocked acreage, in a locality that 
you have reason to believe that it may prove productive. To do 
this there is but one reasonable way, and this is not infallible. 
Once suspicious of the presence of oil in any locality, it is always 
advisable to secure the services of a good geologist, one known to 
be honest and reliable. There are men in this profession, the same 
as any other, whose knowledge may be unsurpassed and yet are 
grand rascals. A little inquiry does no one any harm. 

Having securued the services of a geologist, you will save 
time and money by telling him and showing him all that you have 
heard or seen or know about the property he is to examine for you. 
It will shorten his labors and hasten results. You cannot fool him 
by keping back knowledge of the country you may know; he will 
find it out sooner or later. You are only fooling yourself, taking 
up his valuable time and adding additional expense for nothing. 
The geologist will block up your land for you, locate the best place 
to bore your first well, or if in a field already producing, he will 
follow out the deposition and keep you away from barren territory. 
It is not always that the land adjoining gushers is itself productive 
territory. This preliminary examination may appear at first sight 
to be unnecessary and too expensive to warrant the outlay required, 
but suppose the geologist’s report says your leases are dry and you 
disregard his advice, his knowledge; go ahead on your own con¬ 
victions, under the theory that your neighbor has a good well or 


— 22 — 


several of them, your land to all surface appearances is the same 
as his; then why are not your chances as good as his were before 
he bored his first well and got oil? He had no oil until he drilled 
in the ground and got it, so you will do likewise. You go ahead, 
heedles of what you know. You reach the depth of your neighbor s 
horizon, your sands fail to show up; you go deeper and still the 
sands are barren and soon in your mad haste and sad disappiont- 
ment you keep on going, until finally you reach the salt water sands. 
You find yourself in a synclinal; no oil, a general assortment of 
bills to pay, a difficult job of explanations to serve out to the 
stockholders. You might have spent the mere pittance of the 
geologist’s fee, as compared to the young fortune you threw into 
a salt pond, and saved the money, patience, anxiety and confidence 
of your friends and the investing public in general. On the other 
hand, secure the leases the geologist has blocked out for you, on 
the most favorable terms possible. Your chances of success then 

are nine to one, or a ten per cent loss against a ninety per cent 
gain. 

In the matter of leases there are many printed forms at five 
cents a copy (1 cent war tax), but again call on the profession, 
consult a lawyer; one familiar with the oil business. There are 
ever changing laws, loopholes, snares, relative to oil lands corporate 
laws, operating and things too numerous to mention. The matter 
of titles, some of which that are not worth the ink that it took to 
record them. Here again you may save a hard fought law suit or 
a difficult and expensive compromise, a long delay or an injunc¬ 
tion. 

Drilling Methods —There are only two methods now in use 
in drilling oil wells. One is known as the cable tool method, the 
other as the rotary method. The cable tool method is sometimes 
preferrable in new, undeveloped territory by some, and seems to 
prevail in the North Texas, Kansas and Mid-continent fields. This 
type of rig consists, for deep work, usually of a heavy steel cable, 
one end of which carries the drilling tools, composed of a bit, a drill 
stem, a sinker bar and a set of Jars. The action of the jars is to 
give a quick release jerk to the bit. The other end is wound on 


— 23 — 
















The Damon Anticline 

Scale 


miles 


Sketch No. 1.—This sketch is known as contour work and represents level 
lines run at certain intervads at the same altitude, one above the other. A 
coustant vertical distance apart in elevation. It is the method used in geo¬ 
logic engineering to ascertain the axis of an anticline, also of a synclinal. 

















a reel which may be taken up or let out at pleasure. The bight 
or bend is run over a shieve in a block, called a crown block* 
which is located at the top of the derrick or mast, whichever the 
case may be. The cable is so fastened to a long screw, called a 
temper screw, that the tools may be lowered a fraction of an inch 
at a time, or the entire length of the screw, which is usually five feet. 
The temper screw is fastened to a heavy beam, called a walking 
beam, the center of which is fastened to a substantial post, called 
the samson post, the other end of the beam is fastened to a camk 
throngh the medium of a pitman. 'An engine drives a shaft upon 
which the crank is secured; this gives an oscillating motion to the 
cable, dropping and picking up the tools at the end of the cable in 
the hole, thus penetrating the earth. It is this continual dropping 
of the drill that makes the hole. Very hard rock may be drilled 
by this method. The cuttings are taken out of the hole throngh 
the medium of bailers, which are handled by another reel and 
cable, called the sand line, and operated through the medium of a 
friction. In this method of drilling, which is essentially the same 
as the standard rig method, the casing must be run very near the 
bottom, especially in case any caving matter is encountered. It 
must also be moved at regular intervals to keep it from sticking, or 
“freezing” as it is termed by drillers. 

The only difference between the cable rig and the standard 
rig is that one is complete within itself, while the standard rig has a 
substantial derrick and rig irons which are assembled after the der¬ 
rick is built; the whole being heavier and a little more convenient 
for deep drilling when long strings of caseing have to be handled. 
The principle of operation is the same in both rigs, the difference 
being only in the detail construction. Cable tools have no special 
limit as to depth, neither do rotary rigs. Cables could be made a 
thousand miles long, also the same applies to pipe, therefore it is 
only a matter of strength in either case,, If a cable were to be 
made to exceed a determined length, sufficiently strong to suspend 
vertically that length, its weight alone would break it after a certain 
limit. The same applies to pipe. Therefore, the depth to which 
it is practical to drill into the earth depends upon the strength of 
the sustaining medium, whatever it may be. 

— 26 — 


At the present time, there is nothing known below the present 
drilling depths for the use of man, unless it would be the harnessing 
of the internal vapors and heat to utilize as power derivities, and 
this is too far in the future for discussion here. Even this excessive 
depth drilling, provided the breaking strain could be overcome, 
from the fact that we have no known process at present by which 
metal can be tempered and retained at sufficient hardness to be 
used as a cutting tool that would withstand the the excessive internal 
heat, disregarding the heat caused by friction, that could not pos¬ 
sibly be overcome. 

Cable tool drilling is claimed by some to be the better method 
in wildcat territory and hard rock formations. It is strongly advoca¬ 
ted that by this method everything is bailed out of the hole directly 
from the bottom and that oil showings will be seen much plainer, 
that the formation as it changes can be seen much plainer and is 
more easily distinguished because it is brought directly from the 
bottom of the hole by the bailer. This is not correct, only in one 
instance, ze, if the casing is in the immediate vicinity of the bottom, 
where the bit is working, it may be so, provided that none of the 
wall fell in during the raising and lowering of the casing. Atten- 
is called to the cable in operation. In clay, there is more clay en¬ 
countered in drilling operation than any other formation. The 
strands of the cable are so plastered with clay that they cannot be 
seen. All intricaces between the lays of cable are filled solid 
and the cable resembles a solid round and not a cable at all. l he 
cable is always in motion. The walls of the well are stationary, 
what could happen to the walls that are not in motion? If a cable 
in constant motion will plaster up to the extent that you could not 
tell what is was by looking at it, what would the wall look like? 
The quick jerk that the jars give to the drilling line, on the up 
stroke, throws the mud off the line, onto the walls of the well; the 
down stroke of the cable gives sufficient slack to touch the sides 
of the well, thus plastering them up as a stone mason would plaster 
them were he down there doing the work with a trowel in place of 
a cable. A cable tool bit covers two-thirds of the hole, nothing 
beneath it can escape pulverization. Much valuable information 
is lost through the complete destruction of the fossils by powdering 

—27— 


them up beyond recognition; and it is through the fossil medium 
that all strata of the earth are identified. 

The cable tool method is most expensive and slow. It takes 
a young pipe yard and a large bank account to supply the various 
sizes of casing to be used on a deep test. Where it is not neces¬ 
sary to set casing for immediate relief from caving or other 
cause. The entire string of tools, including the cable, plaster up 
the walls of the hole with the fine powdered cuttings that the bit 
makes in cutting its way downward, to the extent that unless the oil 
stratum is exceptionally well defined or its depth definitely known, 
and it has little gas pressure and the sands are tight, it may pass 
unnoticed. Although carefully watched, such instances are com¬ 
mon. It is not a rapid method of drilling. It certainly is an awk¬ 
ward rig to move from place to place, especially in bad weather. 
It is antiquity, modernized to a certain extent. So far as the 
writer can see, from past observation and experience with all types 
of drilling machinery, the cable tool is inferior. I know of no in¬ 
stance in which a cable tool can be recommneded other than as a 
time-killer and money-eater. 

Rotary Drilling Method —A derrick is necessary in this meth¬ 
od. The method of drilling oil wells by the rotary system is by 
the rotation of a pipe called the drill stem, which is a heavy pipe, 
usually four inch, sometimes six inch, made expressly for the pur¬ 
pose. At the drilling end of the pipe a heavy collar is used; in 
this heavy drill collar, the bit that does the boring is securely 
screwed. At the stem there is an attachment called a swivel; this 
swivel takes the full load of the pipe and at the same time allowing 
it free rotation. A heavy hose is securely fastened onto the swivel, 
this is called the drill hose; it is very heavy and is usually wrapped 
with heavy wire; the wire not only protects the hose from undue 
wear, but also acts as a protection against accident, besides taking 
a portion of the strain off the hose due to high pressure sometimes 
carried. The hose leads to pipes called stand pipes which run up 
the sides of the derrick over and between the pumps, there screwed 
to a manifold, which distributes the mud laden fluid from the 
pumps. A pit, called a slush pit, four or five feet deep, usually 


— 28 — 


twenty by forty, is dug near the derrick and handy to the pumps, 
which is for the express purpose of holding the mud ladened fluid 
that is carried from the bore hole through a ditch, some hundred feet 
long, in a sinuous route and sufficiently large to be readily cleaned 
out with an ordinary long handled shovel. At each bend in the 
ditch there should be a hole about four feet square, a foot deeper 
than the ditch, in order to allow sand, grit and hard cuttings to ao 
cumulate where they can be readily and easily disposed of before 
reaching the pit. 

The pump pumps the fliud through the drill stem to the bit, 
into which two holes are bored, that the fluid may pass through, 
thus keeping the bit clean and bright and bringing out the cuttings. 
Usually a joint or two of casing with a tee, a short nipple and a 
short piece of pipe is placed as soon as sufficient hole is made to 
place it. This is called the surface casing. The object of tbe short 
piece of pipe is to bring the cuttings to the edge of the derrinck 
where they may flow into a box so arranged as to catch all of the 
cuttings, that they may be examined by inspection at any instant. 

The stem is rotated through the medium of a rotary which 
is set on the derrick floor immediately over the bore hole. The ro¬ 
tary is driven by a sproket chain connected to the main shaft, 
which is intergal with the main shaft and a part of it. The main 
shaft is driven by a steam engine set outside the derrick on mud 
sills, buried in the ground to secure it. The draw works, which set 
in the side of the derrick are secured to it by heavy posts bolted on 
to it. The draw works is nothing other than a hoist and is used 
for such in handling the stem, casing and things too heavy for the 
cat line. It is through this medium that the bit is handled in its 
feed. The cat line is usually inch and a quarter or inch and a half, 
and should reach from the gin pole, the highest part of the derrick, 
to the floor and have a few feet to spare. A cat head on the end 
of the main shaft is used in connection with the cat line, pipe and 
casing and all heavy things that need to be moved about the der¬ 
rick floor are moved with the cat line. 

Tool joints have replaced the old-fashioned way of making up 

the stem. Tool joints are heavy steel couplings with regular pipe 
threads on the ends which screw onto the drill pipe permanently. 

—29— 


The threads of the tool joints are coarse, the best thread being 
five to the inch. These threads are cut on a taper box and pin and 
are readily made up and as quickly unscrewed. For ordinary 
depths three joints of pipe are screwed securely together with 
a tool joint connection. The drill stem is thus put up in sections 
of three and sometimes four joints of pipe, depending on the 
height of the derrick. Thus the drill stem is unscrewed only at 
the tool joints, faciliating speed in drawing the stem from the bore 
hole and replacing it; thus simplifying matters in rapidty and ease 
of handling. 

Hydraulic Pumps .—Heavy and powerful pumps are espec¬ 
ially constructed to withstand the high pressures sometimes used, and 
the constant cutting effect of the mud laden fluid. Large piston 
rods, large and simple valves and valve seats and removable liners 
are a special feature of a mud pump. These pumps should be 
capable of putting up pressures of five hundred to seven hundred 
pounds. With the rotary bit the cuttings are whittled off and 
come to the surface in various size pieces, from the minutest grains 
of sand to chunks as large as small eggs, and they are not ground 
up into a powder as by the heavy percussion tools of the cable rig. 
Any traces of fossils can be quite easily recognized and fragments 
of rock may be easily examined. Cemented sands are not gronud 
beyond recognition. 

All caving material, such as sands, heaving shales, loose, 
open or porus formation, is easily, quickly and cheaply shut off. 
Gas pressures ranging around seven and eight hundred pounds can 
be completely reduced to no pressure by the proper use of a heavy 
mud laden fluid in twenty minutes time after the proper pre¬ 
parations are made to introduce it, and in this way a sealed 
wall or casing of mud is made wihch is sufficient within itself, 
without any casing whatever to carry the hole to great depths. 
When the oil horizon is reached, then the casing is set in a single 
string, either with shoe and packer or with cement. The casing 
may be set with a shoe and packer only, of which there are many 
varities. Also a lead shoe is frequently used, especially in the case 
of a hard rock seat. When it becomes necessary to set on top of 


— 30 — 


a rock in which oil is found, and for variuos reasons it is not desir¬ 
able to use cement, the lead seal is a good substitute. Most of the 

larger supply houses issue very elaborate and instructive catalogs 
and here are shown many varities of packers and other useful and 

handy appliances. These catalogs are very useful to the manage¬ 
ment of oil porperties and should be kept as a part of the manager’s 
library. 

If the oil horizon is not known, and it generally is not in wild 
cat terrtiory, the hole may be reduced and the cuttings carefully 
watched. Oil has an affinity for clay, yet pay oil is never found in 
clay. The clay may be only a covering to the oil stratum. This 
does not have reference to the shale oil industry. If oil is in a rock, 
it will be either in a sand rock or a porus lime. If in any other 
kind of rock, the density of the rock will not permit of the oil mov¬ 
ing freely, therefore there is always a showing of oil in the formation 
before the main oil stratum is reached. Gas may show up also; a 
very small amount of gas, not sufficient to make a blaze as large as 
a match would make, will show up instantly on the returning mud. 
The smallest amount of oil will do likewise. Then if either oil 
or gas is passed unnoticed, somebody can’t see good! Does the 
blame lie with the rig or the man in charge of the rig? 

Casing .—The casing is usually set in gumbo or solid rock 
immediately over the pay if no water sand intervenes; if water is 
present the casing must be carried lower, sometimes to the top of 
the pay. Occasionally casing is set on top of the pay; in this case 
it should be cemented. The greatest care should be used in the use 
of cement. The water in the well should be tested to ascertain 
what effect it will have on the setting qualities of the cement and if 
any, the matter should have immediate and proper attention before 
the cement is applied. The hole and the casing should be free of 
mud and grease before the cement is introduced. Two or three 
weeks should be allowed the cement to set and harden, after which 
the well may be drilled into the sand, through the cement. Many 
wells are actually ruined by drilling into the sand before the cement 
has had time to harden. 

Cementing Methods .—There are several ways of using 
cement successfully, each will be discussed in turn. 

—31 — 


The Two Plug Method —This method consists of a plug 
three or four feet long, fitting snugly, but not tight; the bottom end 
of the plug should be sawed off square, a round disc cut from an 
old belting tacked onto the end, so as to fit snug in the casing, thus 
making a good plunger. The plug should be turned in a lathe, but 
can be hewn out near enough by a good axman. This plug we call 
number one. Another plug twelve or eighteen inches long is made 
identical to the first plug; a disc of belting is likewise nailed to the 
end of this plug. We now have two plungers, one four feet long, 
one a foot long, both fitting snugly in the casing to be cemented. A 
wooden mixing box, six by twelve feet, one foot deep with a close- 
able opening at the end is made to be used to mix the cement. This 
box should be made tight; at least sufficiently so that no cement 
will run through any possible cracks. One-by-twelve with two-by- 
four bracing, double bottom, makes a convenient mixing box, and 
if taken care of will last a long time. The box is now placed in 
such a manner that the cement when thoroughly mixed may all be 
run at once, directly into the casing. Water, cement, and men 
should be on hand and ready; the men should work fast; it may 
be neccessary to run several boxes. The mixing water should be as 
pure as possible, even though it has to be hauled several miles, as 
pure water tends to keep down re-acting earth acids that may be pre- 
eent in the formation to be cemented, from mixing with and retard¬ 
ing the setting of the cement, or completely destroying its setting 
quality. A quick setting cement should be selected. Gypsum de¬ 
posits may retard the setting of the cement indefinitely, therefore 
great care should be exercised in getting rid of as much of it as 
possible by washing. 

Applying the Cement .—First the casing should be free of 
mud and slush water by pumping in fresh water; water as pure as 
it is possible to obtain. Sufficient fresh water should be pumped 
down the casing to know that around the seat and bottom of the 
casing is clean, but not enough to wash away and allow the walls 
to sluff off and cave. The casing should now be perfectly free to 
move up and down. The box is now placed in position and all 
made ready to run the cement. The swivel is now unscrewed while 
the casing is resting on the bottom, and plug number one inserted. 

—32— 


The swivel is now replaced, the pump started, at the same time 
raising the casing six or eight inches off the bottom. Never raise 
casing high enough to allow plug to pass out, as this procedure may 
lead to serious trouble and delay. The plug acts as a guide for 
the casing when it hits bottom; it also cleans the inside of the casing. 
As soon as the plug hits bottom the pump will stop and the driller 
will know at once that his number one plug is on bottom. The cas¬ 
ing is now lowered again to bottom, thus keeping cuttings or any¬ 
thing else from running back into the casing. The swivel is now 
removed, the cement poured in. The quantity pre-determined and 
varying in amount from half a ton to ten tons or more, depending 
upon depth, character of formation, amount of pressure, etc. Suf¬ 
ficient cement should be run to fill out the space around the casing 
and well up on the outside of the casing. The cement all poured, 
plug number two is inserted, usually some old gunny sacks, old 
canvas, overalls or any odds and ends of any kind of old fabric are 
tacked to the upper end of plug number two, which act as as an 
additional packer. The swivel is now screwed back on, the pump 
started and casing raised as before, six or eight inches. Casing 
should be moved occasionally, especially while the cement is being 
forced down, to be positive that it is free and will not stick until 
the cement is all out. The casing positively must not stick during 
this operation. Plug number two is decending in the meantime, 
pushing all the cement before it, until finally it hits plug number 
one on the bottom, when the pump again stops and this tells the 
driller that all of his cement has been forced out of the casing; and 
it is now lowered to bottom. Sometimes it is rotated a few times 
to insure a good, tight seat. The casing is now permanently set, 
the pressure left on and all valves closed; the floor cleared of all 
junk; tools and everything put away and locked up and the well 
left, with a reliable watchman, until the cement has thoroughly 
hardened. The plugs being wooden, the job of drilling them out 
is momentary. No outside packers or other devices are necessary 
in connection with this process of cementing; a shoe is not re¬ 
quired but advisable. The whole cementing operation should not 
require more than an hour or two. It is the most satisfactory way 
of cementing oil wells. 


— 33 — 


The Tubing Method .—This method consists of placing the 
tubing inside of the casing and carrying it to the bottom of the hole, 
so packed at the lower end as not to allow any fluid to pass. Any 
one of the numerous packers now on the market will answer the 
purpose, but the writer prefers the Larkin packer, owing to its sim¬ 
plicity and effectiveness. On the top end of the Tubing a gate 
valve is securely screwed and sometimes fastened by iron clamps 
or other menas, to hold it down in cases where gas pressures are 
excessive. Into the uper end of the gate valve are screwed two 
joints of eight or ten inch casing ; on the uppper end of the casing an¬ 
other gate valve is screwed; into this top valve a mud line from the 
pump is connected. This mud line must also have a control vent. 
The whole can better be made up on the ground, then pulled up in 
place and secured by heavy unions. The casing proper must have 
a tee and gate valve to control the pressure. The suction of the 
pump is raised out of the slush pit and placed in the mixing box, 
previously made for the purpose, where the mixture can be handled 
quickly and conveiently. The consistency of the mixture should be 
about that of buttermilk. All is now ready to cement. The bottom 
gate valve is now closed, the top gate valve is opened, also the vent 
is opened, the pump is started and the two joints of casing are 
filled with cement. The top valve and vent are now closed, the 
bottom valve is opened and the cement falls to the bottom. The 
operation is repeated until the gas is entirely shut off and the well is 
dead. Heavy mud may be introduced in the same manner, if the 
job is to be only temporary. The casing must now be lowered into 
place, the pump thoroughly cleaned and the tubing pulled out and 
cleaned. The cement remaining in the casing should be bailed 
out promptly and the casing filled with slush, thus mainating a 
column pressure on the casing to prevent it from collaspsing. 

Dump Method .—This method consists simply of a dump or 
trip bailer as the method of conveyance. The cement already 
mixed as stated for other processes is the same for this method. The 
well must be prepared to receive the cement by bailing and wash¬ 
ing out all mud, alkali or other foreign matter that may be in the 
hole. Water may or may not be left in the casing, this depends 
on depth and condition of casing. Everything ready, the bailer is 

—34— 


filled with cement and lowered to the bottom where it automatic¬ 
ally dumps itself. This operation is repeated until sufficient cement 
has been dropped into the well. Some sort of a follower made 
of wood, similar to a plug as described in the plug method must be 
placed in the casing. This plug is pushed down by the weight of 
the bailer to the bottom; as it goes down the casing it pushes all 
the cement out of the casing and up into the walls of the well. The 
casing must be a few inches off the bottom during the operation. 
The plug must be sufficiently long so as not to be pulled out of 
the casing when the casing is raised. The plug is arranged with 
a top and bottom disc, snugly fitting the casing so as not to allow 
the passage of any cement back up into the casing. The plug 
once on the bottom, the casing is lowered to seat and allowed 
the usual time to set. 

The Pump Method .—This method consists of pumping the 
cement directly down the casing, the casing being handled in the 
usual manner. This method is used where the wells are shallow 
or there is a corrosive element in the formation that attacks the cas¬ 
ing. By this process, if properly done, the cement entirely encases 
the casing and should be pumped down until it comes out at the 
surface. It then absolutely protects the entire formation from top 
to bottom; this feature alone would commend it, particularly where 
very many wells are drilled close together. The only objection 
to it is the extra amount of cement used. When the cementing is 
completed all remaining cement is bailed out of the casing and the 
usual time allowed for setting; the plug method is used to push 
the cement out of the casing, in this method the same as in any 
other, before the bailer is used. 

Rotary Drilling .—Any known formation so far drilled by 
any other method can be easily and quickly drilled by the rotary 
system. Whole sections of formation at any depth can be taken 
out with the core barrel, without disturbing the formation. The 
sample shows exactly of what the formation is composed, just as 
it is bedded in place in the earth, and its exact vertical thickness 
is determined by direct measurement. This method of drilling is 
resorted to in testing out sulphur deposits; locating bodies of ore 


— 35 — 


in mining districts and wherever it is necessary to determine the 
underground horizon and location of any mineral, such as zinc, 
lead, iron, coal, etc. There is no other known method by which 
this can be done. 

The various bits used will be described separately. It maj 
be of interest to know how the cores are obtained and a few remarks 
here will suffice. In the use of the core barrel or Calix bit (both 
are used for the same purpose) cores are usually about two inches 
in diameter, this varies as to the size of the barrel used, cores may 

be of any length but are usually twelve to twenty-four inches long, 
unless the material in which the bit is working is solid and without 

seams, cracks or crevices, in which case the cores may be several 
feet in length; six or eight feet in hard rock is a good run without 
changing bits. Bringing out the Core .—As the core is cut in diam¬ 
eter considerably smaller than the bit’s diameter, in order to make 
room for the free passage of fluid around the core and cutting edge 
to keep it cool and bring out the cuttings, there is a natural ten¬ 
dency to wabbling, which within itself would break off the core 
before very long. When a sufficient run has been made, the sur¬ 
face connections are uncoupled and sand dropped into the pipe; 
the sand locks the core in the barrel preventing it from dropping 
out in its ascent to the surface, thus the core is brought to the top. 

The Fish-Tail Bit .—The fish-tail bit is used in the ordinary 
run of formation, such as all classes of earth, clays, sands and soft 
rock; sometimes ordinary hard rock is drilled with this bit, but un¬ 
less the bit is kept quite sharp it is not advisable to use the fish¬ 
tail in rock; as the bit has a tendency to hang and this causes a 
jumping, jerking action on the stem which is liable to crystalize the 
pipe. It also puts undue strain on the machinery. Crystalized pipe 
may lead to serious trouble, causing unnecessary fishing jobs. In 
heavy clay formations and in sticky clay-shales, or in any forma¬ 
tion that may be sticky or have a tendency to ball up, a bit should 
be used with larger holes and very short. The water is then 
brought in better contact with the cutting edge, keeqing it clean 
and free. It is also less apt to plug. Long bits with thin, well- 
curved tails do better in hard formations and soft rock than the 
short straighter tailed bit used in clay formations. 

—36— 


The Disc Bit .—The disc bit is of recent invention and a pro¬ 
duct of the Hughes Tool Company, of Houston, Texas. This bit 
has the record of the remarkable speed of seven hundred feet in 
ten hours in ordiuary formation, and it is claimed by some drillers 
to be a good cutting tool in soft rock. 

The Roller Bit .—This bit has two steel cones on the bottom 
that do the cutting, with one side roller about a foot from the cones 
that keeps the hole smooth and reamed to the proper size. The 
principle is the same as that of an emery wheel dresser.. This 
bit does not grind or cut the rock as does any other bit. It breaks 
or crushes off small particles as it rolls around on the rock. This 
type of bit is also made by the Hughes Tool Company and is 
guaranteed by them to cut the hardest rock. 

Core Barrel .—This is nothing but a piece of soft tubing of 
the proper size and threaded on one end. Adamantine is used with 
this form of tool which is in fact the cutting agent. The principle 
is the same as the cable system used in quarries for cutting out 
large blocks of stone, especially marble. 

The Calix Core Bit .—This is another type of core cutting. 
The bit is of heavy barrel shape tool steel, resembling a long drive 
6hoe more than anything else. Its cutting edge is a saw tooth made 
in the bottom end, usually about two inches long to cut rip-saw 
fashion; slightly offset on the outer and inner edges to eliminate 
binding. This bit is used probably more than any other type of 
bit in defining sulphur deposits. 

Drag Tail .—The drag tail is the old time hard rock bit and 
is today resorted to by many wildcat drillers for many reasons, 
principally because they can make them easily and quickly and 
because they imagine that their rock will not be very thick and 
would not warrant the expense of a modern tool. This practice is 
fast becoming obsolete. The drag tail bit is a fish-tail reversed, or 
instead of cutting they only drag. The bit is left as soft as possi¬ 
ble after being shaped to proper size. Adamantine is used with 
this type of bit. Hie adamantine embedding itself more or less in 
the soft steel, wearing away the rock but not the bit. It is a very 
simple bit but will cut the hardest rock. 


— 37 — 


There is a recent invention, not yet on the market, that will 
surpass anything yet devised if it holds up to time tests. It is a 
rotary bit invented by a Mr. Carter, a mining engineer of Colorado. 
Its use will do away with tool joints altogether. It will alleviate 
the necessity of removing the drill stem from the bore hole, regard¬ 
less of the formation, until the well is bored to its intended depth, 
thus saving in the aggregate an enormous amount of time, in addi¬ 
tion to effecting a big saving on the drill stem. 

The bit best suited for a certain formation depends largely 
upon local conditions. The formation can be studied as well from 
the cuttings of one bit as from another, except the drag tail bit. 
When the formation is known and there is no particular object in 
securing a core, the cheapest and best bit for hard rock is the 
roller bit, because of the great saving in time in the rapidity in 
which drilling is done. 

There is no known formation that can not be successfully 
handled by the rotary process of drilling no matter how hard or 
how soft the drilling may be or under what conditions. How many 
gushers and large producing wells have been drilled by the rotary 
and abondoned as dry holes? This is no criterion as a step farther 
will show. Rotary drilling is like any other mechanism, profession 
or business. It must be understood to make a success of it. The 
man who thoroughly understands the rotary process of drilling and 
is a competent formation man, will never pass through the slightest 
showing of either oil or gas, no matter how shallow or how deep, 
without knowing it, if he is attending to his business. Any one com¬ 
petent to know what consistency his mud should be without sticking 
his stem or choking his pump, and with prudence enough not to 
tear up his machine, can drill a hole in the ground. But can he 
bring in a well? Most emphatically he cannot. He is neither a 
formation man nor a driller. There are more men today running 
rotary rigs that know no more what the bit is doing down there in 
the bottom of the hole than they do about the stars that shine over 
their heads, yet such men call themselves drillers. The majority of 
them are rough necks of the Burkburnett type, so what can be ex¬ 
pected of a rotary rig in such hands? At best, wildcat drilling 


— 38 — 


should not be left in the hands of drillers. Practically all of the 
oil, gas and artesian wells in the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Re¬ 
gion, numbering close on to twenty-five thousand, have been drilled 
with a rotary. A geologist, or one proficient in the quick determi¬ 
nation of cuttings and familiar with local conditions and formation 
should have entire supervision of drilling operations. 

Preparations .—This is a matter that should have the utter¬ 
most attention, and one that usually has the least. First of all, 
after the location is made, every item that goes into the drilling 
operations should be craefully listed; all small tools should be listed 
separately; nuts and bolts of various sizes are a very important item, 
generally neglected or overlooked until drilling starts. A list of 
various size nipples, short pieces of larger size pipe and casing, 
together with all the large size casing to be used should be carefully 
itemized. Every part of the rig should be listed in detail. Acces¬ 
sories, such as fuse plugs for the boiler, hand hold plates, extra 
valves and small connections, etc. The lumber bill for the derrick, 
boiler shed, bunk house, boarding quarters and the superintendent’s 
house, with sufficient lumber for odds and ends, tables, benches, 
shelves, etc., should be carefully itemized and on a list to itself. 
The various lists should be checked and rechecked several times. 
When all is assembled and ready for shipment, the man who is to 
have charge of the development of the properties should now take 
charge of all shipping arrangements, delivery at destination, and 
erection of buildings, assorting the various articles upon delivery at 
location, etc. He should have complete charge of everything at 
the location. He should erect his buildings near his rig, but with 
due regard to protection from the elements as far as possible, such 
as storms, fire, heat in summer, cold winds in winter; sufficiently 
distant from the derrick to be safe in case the derrick should collapse 
from any cause. He should have due regard to the prevailing di¬ 
rection of the wind. To get his living quarters to windward of de¬ 
velopment is always advantageous. 

In the selection of the location for living quarters, a nearby 
well or a good spring of water, where drainage conditions are fav¬ 
orable; where w r ater can be piped cheaply and run to the quarters 


39 — 


by gravity, is always to the better advantage of all concerned. 
Bearing in mind that men, and sometimes women, are a long way 
from nowhere in a wildcat camp, and that they have access to only 
what is at hand, a little forethought for them goes a long way to¬ 
wards getting and keeping better men. Better accommodations 
and environments make contented men. The man who is satisfied 
with his living conditions is generally satisfied with his working con¬ 
ditions. Satisfied men give better service. It therefore pays in 
actual work done to have comfortable quarters for the men; and 
with a little judgement and very little, if any, additional cost, it can 
be just as well done as not. 

Everything being on the ground and checked as per original 
lists, the construction crews should be started, buildings first; every¬ 
thing made ready for the drilling crews. The derrick should now 
be erected; all water for both domestic and drilling uses should be 
completed; sufficient fuel, and arrangements to keep a constant 
supply on hand, should be provided for; in fact every detail worked 
to a plan, before the arrival of the regular crew, who will upon 
their arrival set up the drilling machine and make ready to com¬ 
mence drilling in a very short time. 

Thus you have a system established by which you work; 
stay with it and make everybody else do likewise. Regularity and 
punctuality are to the oil well business the same as they are to any 
other business. Too much care cannot be exercised in the matter 
of readiness. At this age of speed and high prices, a day lost is 
a heavy expense against the well and rightly charged against the 
management, if caused by the lack of some article that should 
have been on hand that was not; therefore, everything should be 
in readiness before the work is actually to begin. 

Kind of Equipment to Install .—In the matter of deciding up¬ 
on the best method of drilling, the writer prefers the rotary system, 
even in the rankest wildcat, but it must be in charge of a competent 
director, as well as experienced drillers. Beyond the facts before 
mentioned, it is the only method that effectually protects the forma¬ 
tion and the quick decline of gas pressure, so essential to flowing 
wells. The mode of removing the cuttings from the the bore hole 


—40 


is through the returning mud. This constant flowing of mud plas¬ 
ters up all the loose strata by which gas may escape, or water break 
in, either above or below. It is effective in stoping the migration 
of gas, oil or water from one stratum to another. This can not 
possibly be done by any other method without cementing every 
string of casing, from top to bottom. If the field is to amount to 
anything it is certainly worth the trouble to fortify it against cer¬ 
tain quick decline and eventual ruin. 

The rotary process saves the enormous expense of extra 
strings of large size casing and the time it takes to set it. It is rapid, 
drilling ahead in daylight, in a reduced hole, when working day and 
night crews; eliminate any risk of going through pay unnoticed. 
Drilling ahead always provides a seat in case unexpected oil hori¬ 
zons are encountered. 

Gas shows up surely and quickly by making the mud foam; 
oil shows up plainly, it must show up if it is in the formation, and 
the fresh cuttings as they come at every revolution of the bit, are 
coming out as fast as the bit is going down. It is as easy to wash 
them out as they come fresh from the bottom as it is to wash them 
out after they have been chugged and churned around and pow¬ 
dered up on the bottom, as is the case with the cable tool. It is an 
easy matter to know whether the bit is in sandstone, limestone or any 
other lense and to note a change in formation as soon as encountered, 
whether or not the cuttings are seen. It is easy to detect a broken 
bit; both are more difficult with the cable tool system. If a flow 
of water or gas, under strong pressure is encountered, it is only a 
matter of minutes to shut it off, by the rotary process, by increas¬ 
ing the consistency of the mud or putting it under pressure, or if 
necsessary, both; and again if the right kind of a seat is made, in 
the right place and the proper packer used; the casing porperly set, 
with the heavy mud behind it, completely filling all vacant spaces 
between the casing and the walls of the well, it is not necessary to 
use cement. In the event the casing is to be recovered through the 
abandonment of the well or other causes, it can usually be pulled 
with little difficulty, if set as above desrcribed. 

As stated elsewhere, any stratum can be quickly sealed by 


—41 — 


the proper use of mud. No substance will penetrate this seal when 
the mud seal itself is protected, and this is done later by casing. 
Any stratum so sealed, but properly done, is not plugged by any 
means, and can at any future time, even years later, be unsealed 
and is again the same as though it were never penerated; simply 
by washing the mud off the walls by the use of clear water. A 
stratum is quite often improperly sealed, generally through ignor¬ 
ance. One and the main cause is the return ditch. It is not long 
enough; the cleaning pits not large and deep enough; the slush 
pit too shallow and the pump’s suction on the bottom. Conse¬ 
quences—the mud carries sand and sharp grit in fine particles, set¬ 
tles everywhere, cuts the packing, valves, liners and rods. This 
kind of mud is generally agitated more either by shovels, hoes or 
steam and then thinned with water. This procedure is radically 
wrong; it is no longer mud, simply cuttings. This kind of mud 
goes into the stratum far beyond any remedy of recovery. It is too 
thin, it is cuttings unsettled, not mud at all, and it will certainly 
plug any formation. It will not seal it. I have known this kind 
of mud to penetrate a stratum of water sand two hundred feet, and 
perhaps considerably farther. Proper mud must be free from all 
gritty matter and about as thick as butter milk, it should stand 
twenty four hours without settling. This kind of mud will seal 
back any substance, any formation, and will not plug it. This is 
kind of mud seal that can be broken and the stratum not injured 
in the least, even after several years. This kind of mud will not 
grip casing or stick tools. It bcomes hard as the water is driven 
out of it and in time, geologic time, becomes rock. 

It will be noted that the same company uses both drilling 
methods. One company in particular, uses only rotaries in the 
costal oil fields, where much hard rock is encountered, strong ar¬ 
tesian flows and high gas pressures at frequent intervals; deep oil 
horizons and the hardest wells of all to get under control. On the 
other hand the same company will not \ise a rotary in the shallow 
and semi-shallow fields of North Texas, most of which are idea) 
rotary fields. The decision as to what method of drilling to be 
adopted is entirely up to the individual who is putting up the 


— 42 — 


money, or the general plan adopted by the compnay that he repre¬ 
sents and not to any long and varied experience he has personally 
had in the various fields with a rotary. Which ever method is 
selected, obtain the best, regardless of price. 

Tests. —Bi-Sulphide of carbon (high-life) will extract traces 
of oil. Ether is also used. Chloroform is another test. All of 
these tests operate the same and are on the same principle. The 
sample, whether rock, clay or sand, is pulverized so as to pass 
through a sixty mesh screen. Two ounces of the pulverized mass 
is sufficient. Place the sample in any large mouth bottle, a pickle 
bottle is about right. Pour enough on the sample to cover it about 
half an inch; any one of the liquids may be used, but carbon is the 
cheapest. Agitate the sample for twenty minutes; pour off the 
liquid, through a filtering paper, into a saucer; and allow to evap¬ 
orate. CAUTION—Great care should be exercised not to do 
this around a light or in a closed room. If oil is present, a very 
pronounced ring will show on the paper, but upon evaporation of 
the contents of the saucer, grease remains as a residue, then petro¬ 
leum was present in the sample. If the color of the residue in the 
saucer is light, the base is parafine; if dark, asphaltum. Sometimes 
the residum contains both, in which event it is difficult to designate 
by color just what the base may be. After making the above 
tests and you find them satisfactory, note the topographical condi¬ 
tions of the locality and if you find these in harmony with 
what you have been reading in this book, better get a geologist to 
look over the properties, you may have found an oil field. 


- 4 * — 



is used to give a legal description of certain properties that they may be 
easily referred to in making conveyances and readily understood by in¬ 
spection. Each parcel of land is usually numbered or named on these maps. 


— 44 — 














































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